by Xinhua writer Zhang Yongxing
SUVA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China has made great achievements and its increased global influence is very positive and welcoming, thanks to its four-decade reform and opening up, says a Fijian expert.
"Through its opening up and reforms, China has not only become a modern country, but also its peaceful rise has substantial positive influence to the rest of the world," Keshmeer Makun, a lecturer at the Fiji National University's School of Economics, told Xinhua on Thursday.
"And I think China's increased role in global issues and influence to the world is very positive, appropriate and welcoming," Makun said.
China, as the largest developing economy in the world, has made tremendous progress under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in almost every front of its economy and the progress is directly connected to its opening up and consistent reform policies over the past decades, especially in recent years, Makun said.
"There are many examples of such achievements such as increased trade, e-commerce, technical innovation, generation of employment, poverty alleviation and economic growth," he said.
China's achievements are self-evident, Makun said. Over the past 40 years, the country's socio-economic status has risen and the living conditions of its people have improved.
Makun believes that China has an important role to play in helping deal with the uncertainty and challenges the world faces today, which can only be overcome through international partnerships and cooperation.
China backs globalization and multilateralism, pursues win-win relations with other countries, and has been contributing to the economic development of other countries, the scholar said, adding that the Asian country has become a major and very responsible contributor to solutions to global issues and in rewriting international rules.
"For example, China contributes significantly in areas of world peacekeeping, financial aid, energy, climate change, international law enforcement, disaster relief, and global economic governance. Many countries and organizations have worked with China on these global issues," he said.
Makun said that he is fully confident that China will no doubt continue and expand its opening up and reform policy in the coming years.
"The move towards opening up and structural reform is in the right direction and I think the Chinese leadership has been an instrumental force for change," he said.
Reforms outlined at the 19th CPC National Congress last year are not only critical for China's long term economic growth but also for global economic growth, he said.
"I also strongly believe that China's social and political stability, and political reform are essential to China's long term economic prosperity," Makun said, "and also for neighboring Asian countries and consequently for the whole world."
